hornhiyo

Not a weird assumption at all.

Just an honest question.......

 

You go into detail of something that you were concerned with but you give a one word description of your cruise.

Correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't their a separate area for trip reviews?

I apologize for my over-exuberant use of the word "blast". ;)

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I think what's on the door hanger menu is Bloody Mary mixer, not the complete drink. Is that what you ordered?

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Shredie, it an $8.75 Bloody Mary. If they'd only brought me mixer, then I might have been annoyed.

As it was, we'll leave it as an anecdote. :)

So the cruise was a bummer? :(

Weird assumption to draw. Just a strange episode that turned into a good laugh.

Believe it or not, our first Alaskan cruise experience did not hit or miss based on a bloody mary. ;)

PS - We have a class of 2014 Ag in the family.

I noticed the alcoholic beverage package is listed at $56.25 when you book it online. When we boarded the ship to Vancouver, the price was $49. Why would it be more expensive to pre-order than order online?

We ordered a bottle of Jack Daniels and Skyy Vodka when we boarded. They were both cheaper on the ship than pre-ordering online.

That makes no sense to me.

Just came through customs in Vancouver port. It was without a doubt, the easiest customs experience I've ever had.

It looked like the Princess related transfers in the cruise terminal were very busy. It was almost chaotic. Some of those may have been Vancouver related excursions, but the taxi line was almost non-existent. I'd just head to the taxi line and save the hassle.

Just came off the Coral Princess from Whittier to Vancouver. We didn't eat at any of the specialty restaurants, but they never seemed to be that busy. I'd be surprised if they didn't have reservations available.

As an aside, personally, the idea that I pay for food in my cruise price, then have to pay for a different meal, doesn't appeal to me. We saved our meal money for specialty restaurants at our ports. There's a seafood place right at the port in Juneau that has phenomenal clams in a beer broth.

We were just on the Coral Princess from Whittier to Vancouver. There was a noticeably minimal amount of smoking, including non-smoking nights, in the casino.

We were on the Carnival Magic last year and you couldn't see the other side of the casino for smoke.

It doesn't bother me too much, but my wife won't go into a smokey casino. The Princess experience would make us more likely to cruise Princess than Carnival.

Just back from our first Alaskan cruise on Coral Princess. Whittier to Vancouver and it was a blast.

One issue we had on the ship though was very puzzling. We ordered room service breakfast every morning. Day 1, I checked my breakfast boxes, coffee, fruit, cereal, breakfast sandwich and since we were on vacation, a couple of bloody mary's for a 7:30am delivery.

First morning, knock on the door, "breakfast sir!!". Bring in the tray, but no bloody mary's. "Sorry, we're out of bloody mary's, they sold out already."

Now this was very puzzling to me. How could you sell out of bloody mary's by 7:30am. I'd say the average age of the passengers suggested bloody mary's weren't going to be the most popular item on the menu. If they'd run out of prunes, I could understand it. :D

Day 2, complete the order, same selections. Next morning, "sorry sir, we're out of bloody mary's".

After the day 2 rejection, we went up to the deck bar and voila!! Ordered a bloody mary at the bar.

Day 3, same order, same story. I think the kitchen staff was catching on, since the girl explained, their bar was different than the regular bars.

Day 4, since we already had a bottle of Skyy vodka in the room, ordered tomato juice, then wrote in on the card, "olives, celery, tabasco and worcestershire". :) Needless to say, they didn't bring those things.

It became a running joke the rest of the trip, with me writing requests and/or pleading for a bloody mary. Same story every day. For the record, i'm not that huge a bloody mary fan, it was more principal and comedic value.

Point here is, why have bloody mary's on the menu, if you either didn't have them or are not willing to go to the bar to provide what's on the menu?

Excellent responses, thanks to all.

We're taking a train to San Francisco after the cruise, so the train wasn't that important to us. Assume there are bus options, just not sure where they all pick-up or depart from. Assume all of the bus companies drop-off at cruise terminals, would that be true?

We fly-in Friday night to Anchorage and cruise from Whittier 8:30pm Saturday. Bus is fine. We don't need a tour, just transport. We'd rather get there sooner than later. Recommendations on transfer companies?

Thanks for the feedback. One question on excursions, I'm going through the Princess site. On Caribbean cruises I've used Viator for excursions. Has anyone had any experience using them other non-cruise line travel companies?

Arriving in Anchorage Friday night and departing 8:30 pm Saturday. Any suggestions for hotels? What's the best option for travel to Whittier on Saturday morning? I've heard there's a train. Is there a link?

Any suggestions for excursions. We're doing Skagway, Juneau and Ketchikan.

We're outdoors types, but probably not hunting and fishing excursions. :)

What would be a must see excursion, cost be damned? What would be an under rated excursion?

This is our 30th wedding anniversary trip.

First Alaskan cruise, though we've done the Caribbean several times. We fly into Anchorage Friday night at 7pm, cruise leaves Saturday at 8:30pm.

I assume there are hotel options in Anchorage?

What's the best option to get from Anchorage to Whittier?

We enjoy the outdoors but aren't huge nature folks, i.e. won't be doing any fishing or hunting. :)

What excursions are "must do". One that's a good deal and one where money is no object.

All advice is appreciated.

Okay, trying to incorporate some of the advice and balance options. Based on itinerary, what's the difference between Hubbard Glacier, Sawyer Glacier, Icy Straight point and Glacier Bay?

I appreciate the advice that the ship is less important than the ports. It looks like most cruise lines see the standard Juneau, Ketchikan, Skagway. The wildcards seem to be the glaciers.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Thanks for all of the great responses and advice.

NCL and Princess were chosen based on feedback we got from different friends who have cruised Alaska.

I had an email deal on Crystal.

Alaska trip planned for June. Southbound from Whittier/Seward. First Alaska trip, though we've cruised the Caribbean several times.

Have the option of NCL, Princess or Crystal. Prices aren't too much different. It looks like NCL (Sun) and Princess (Star or Island) are alike, but Crystal (Serenity) looks to be a different experience.

If each ship offers a balcony at the same ballpark price any experienced thoughts on pluses and minuses of each option.

Let me know if this is the wrong forum.

We're looking to book for next Spring out of either Seattle or Vancouver. It'll be 7 day rt, back to our port.

Has anyone had any experience booking air/cruise combos?

Are certain cruise lines more active in these bookings?

I've heard this method of booking is more popular through travel agents, is this the case?

If not, what are the better online options?

Don't want to turn this into an advertising thread, but this is our first cruise not out of our home port (Houston/Galveston), so I'm new to air travel with your cruise.

This is our 30th anniversary trip, so the more I save on travel goes to a balcony/suite fund. 🚢✈️😜